Firstly, you should never ever have to go to Hong Kong for a Z visa unless there is almost no time left before the term begins, not the case here.

The truth is getting a visa in HK, while faster, doesn't expediate things too much. A school still must apply for an official invite, and do a bunch of other nonsense that involves the government, to get you to be able to come and work for them. This can take as little as a couple weeks, or as long as a month.

The only real reason to send someone to HK, is because you don't want to pay.

You see my friend, they are asking you to shoulder the burden, so they don't have to cover the cost. Let me guess, training center?

Good schools will rarely ask you to cover your own visa costs, and if they do, then they are not good schools. Legally they are required to cover your costs in regards to a visa, if they are employing you legally. Will the be giving you money to pay for the visa? Will they be paying for your train or plane ticket to HK? Will they be payiong for the hotel you will stay at? All of these should be a yes, if not, than you are being bamboozled.

Schools are getting cheaper and cheaper, as more and more foreigners come here to teach, and so they have less and less of a hard time finding people to do the job. Now they are starting to get out of covering your visa costs. What's next, not covering accommodation as well?

Let me get this straight, I am coming here, on my own dime, and also paying for what is required in country to work for you? You must be kidding?

If you don't have enough sense to know you are being scammed and taken advantage of, than you deserve to be scammed. Folks like yourself, who obediantly follow orders without question, and will do whatever a Chinese employers tells them to do, are the ones who make it hard for other teachers to get a fair deal. How much BS will you, and others like you take?

You are being had, foreign teachers are never supposed to cover the own visa expenses, and you should not have to be going to HK. Every city has it's own entry and exit burea that handles these matters. Bottom line, they are just trying to rip you off by sending you out of country, essentially removing their legal obligation to cover your visa expenses, and you are letting them.

My advice, don't work for this school, or, if you think they are something special, ask them to reimburse you. If they say no, walk. This is not someplace you want to work if they won't reimburse your costs. There aare also plenty of legite schools out there who will cover the cost, as they should.